Bali

Tomorrow morning, I will fly to Bali, a romantic place for couples. This time, I go there not for romance but for work. That's why I have a mixed feeling. On the one hand, I will present a paper on my research area on Day 2; second, I take Grace to Bali as well. I am not sure whether she likes it or not. Anyway, she wants to go. What I worry is that she may feel bored when I am not around. Well, she is not a kid and she can enjoy herself by participating in some water sports, doing spa or simply stay at the pool. I will join her once I finish all my work.

What I like most about this kind of working holiday is that I can truly get away from my work in Hong Kong. Well, at least I can forget my work for a short while. In addition, whenever I go for a conference, I must have enough sleep as my lifestyle can become very disciplined such as getting up at 7 am, having breakfast at 7:30, attending the first session at 9:00 and so forth.

After I come back, will tell you more about Bali! Bye.

The Dark Knight

Yesterday, I saw a movie called 'The Dark Knight'. I wanted to see it because I thought it was about Hong Kong. Having watched it, I was a bit disappointed about the scene shot in Hong Kong. The episode lasted for less than a few minutes. Most of the action scenes were shot in the studio. But the audience could see the beautiful skyline of Hong Kong Island and the IFC, the tallest building in Hong Kong. The night view of Hong Kong was also superb, but again the scene was terribly short.

About the film, everyone can tell what it is about. A bad guy, Mr. Joker, blackmailed Batman and turned the City into chaos. The Good Guy fought with the Devil. However, this time, the theme -heroism - is a bit twisted in such a way that heros, no matter how righteous they are, will do something hideous to safeguard their own reputation in the dark of the city. Thus, the dichotomy between Good and Bad interwined and there is no longer clear-cut distinction between them. I am not a fan of Batman, but I would say this movie is portrayed from a much more humanistic perspective than previous versions.

Comments: ***** (5 stars) Highly recommended

The film is almost 2.5 hours long and you need to book the tickets as there is always full house. I watched it at Palace IFC, a very spacious and cosy cinema. It's my favourite!

I want to be...

'I want to be...' is a common and interesting composition topic for primary school pupils. When I was very young, I wanted to be a policeman. Thus, at the age of 19, I did apply for the post of police officer. Though I got a pass in the written test as well as the fitness test, I couldn't pass in the interview. My dream never comes true! At the age of 20, I did not think of being a school teacher. In my early twenties, I thought I was a bit purposeless. Having joined the teaching profession, my attitude was, at that time, a kind of wait and see because I promised I would quite before 30. I can't believe that not only do I still work in this field, but I also actually work as a teacher trainer who gives training to both pre- and in-service teachers. What made me have a drastic change in attitude is the training I received at HKU. When I studied my postgraduate certificate of education ten years ago, I was inspired by a group of tutors whose teaching skills were excellent. They were so nice and energetic and taught me a lot of new ideas which I could really use in my daily practice. Whenever I look back, my PGDE tutors did influence me a lot and made me another person. I have to take this opportunity to say thanks to those who have inspired and assisted me so much. Now, when I think about the topic 'I want to be...', I really want to be 'a person who can positively influence others.'

Cold and Flu

Yesterday, I felt very sick and had a feeling that I was dying. First, I had a running nose. Second, I had a headache like someone hammering my head from all sides! Third, I felt terribly exhausted and I couldn't stand properly even for a few minutes. Having slept for a few hours, I felt much better. At night, I was still struggling whether I should see my family doctor. But I know her routine. She will ask me some questions about my conditions and then diagnose whether I have a flu or a cold. Oftentimes, she suggests having injection because she thinks I may recover much more quickly. Then she prescribes some medication for me. I don't like Western medicine very much because those medications only make me even worse. After taking them, I feel like a corpse who can only lay on the bed at least for a few days. This time, I tried some Chinese herbal tea which heals patients suffering from cold and flu. I have taken a few packets and feel much better now. Though the effectiveness of this herbal tea may not be as good as Western medication, it fits my internal body system. I would say Western medicine, by all means, is too strong for someone who is not very healthy like me.

Being Single-minded

I would say it is an art to be single-minded whenever you need to complete a task either about your work or about your studies. Over time, many colleagues and friends of mine said to me, "You have to be single-minded; otherwise, you can't finish your studies." All of them are, of course, out of their good intention when they gave me this friendly reminder. I have tried very best to concentrate on my studies whenever I'm free. However, studying a higher degree as a part-time student, I find it very difficult to be single-minded. As a teaching staff in my institution, I have to teach a lot of courses in a year. On top of it, I need to take up some administrative work. All these commitments are mandatory unless I quit. So there is so much ahead of me to accomplish. I haven't counted my family and parents. I feel a bit guilty that I always have no time to talk to them or even see them especially my mom and dad. It is easy said than done to be single-minded! Things won't happen sequentially.

Language and Content Knowledge

Next year, I'm going to teach a course on helping EMI content subject teachers to teach their disciplines in English. It's a challenge as this is my first time to teach non-English subject teachers! I know my job is to teach them how to link the two interrelated notions - language and content knowledge together. Oftentimes, many EMI content subject teachers have encountered a problem - students' low English proficiency. Our job, as teacher educators, aims to coach these EMI teachers how to plan the curriculum and how to inject some English-related pedagogies into their daily teaching practice. For humanity subjects such as history, geography and liberal studies, the nature of these subjects is easier to use English as MOI because students have to read and write English a lot. But for mathematics, it will be quite demanding as some mathematics teachers will say that their students have very minimal opportunity to produce written discourse in the subject. The importance of teaching students English in this specific subject discipline seems to be of low priority. What students have to master is skills and conceptual thinking rather than language abilities. But they forgot most science students have problems in comprehending the questions even though they know how to do the sums. In this case, planning how to teach reading in mathematics would be a way out!

There is so much to learn in the next 6 months.

An Eight-Year-Old Novelist

This morning, I have received an email to which a short novel was attached. You may ask if this is a free e-book. No. The short novel was actually written by an eight-year-old boy who has unlimited potentials to publish his first book. The boy does not only have talents in writing books, but he also likes to write poems and riddles in his blog. Definitely, he was influenced by his mother who is also a prolific writer authoring in a lot of books and journal articles. His mother is always famous in the field of education. I truly wish this kid a bright future in his publishing career.

Gareth,

Work hard and we all support you.

Good luck

R

Travelling

I like travelling and I have visited a number of places in the world. The followinig is a summarization of the places I have been to and the reasons why I like those places. The number next to the places indicates the frequency of visit.

Taiwan (4): I visited Taipei for four times. What I like most in Taipei is its coffee shops and bookshops, for instance 誠品書店. I also love eating beef noodles and steamed buns at 'Yu Tai Fung' dimsum shop. Taipei is a romantic place as I took my wedding photos seven years ago and I plan to have another photo collection for the 10th wedding anniversary!!

Thailand (2): In Bangkok, it's good for shopping though things are getting more and more expensive! I love to eat international dishes at the avant-grade cafe on the seventh floor of Central Department Store in the downtown, Bangkok. It's also relaxing to try the original Thai spa and massage. It's fantastic! The price is very reasonable. I also love to visit the Flea Market in Mo Chit which is opened on weekends only. MBK Centre and World Trade Centre are must-go shopping malls.

Japan (2): I have been to Tokyo and Nagoya. Tokyo is very different from Nagoya. The former is very modern and exciting and the latter is quiet and peaceful.

Malaysia (1): It is a very safe and clean city with a large Chinese population. You can talk to many people in Cantonese. What impressed me most is that most shop assistants can speak fluent English! Twin Towers and KLCC are the modern buildings you must visit.

Beijing (1): I still remember how difficult I climed up the Great Wall because on the day I was there, it rained heavily. However, people told me that there was no need to bring umbrellas to Beijing in June.

Singapare (1): It's also a very clean city with a lot of flowers and trees. I love Sentosa and Little India. Of course, I can't forget Hoi Nam Chicken Rice!!

Dubai (1): I was impressed with the riches. A desert turns into greenery and a wealthy city. I remembered I visited a street called 'Gold Street' which has more than 200 shops selling golden jewelery. It is also exciting to watch camel-racing in Dubai.

Canada (2): I visited Toronto twice. I love watching baseball and in summer, Toronto is a paradise. I could really enjoy driving there.

States (1): I attended a conference when I visited there in June this year, but I will fly to LA to visit my uncle next year.

A New Project

I'm going to do a small-scale project in the next academic year. It's a big challenge to me as I am the principal investigator and luckily I can work with one very senior colleague in the department. Though I had done a pilot study already and students' responses were positive, I never know what will happen when trying out something new (here, I mean new teaching innovations) in a new cohort of students. My confidence in planning to do this study mainly came from the encouragement and support from my partner, An who is a nice and experienced lady in writing research proposals. Without her agreement, I may not submit the research proposal. Even before we start the project, I have already learnt a lot from her. Also, I need to say thanks to another lady who was attentively listening to my plan when she was extremely busy and tired. In August, I will prepare for the data collection for my project. Though there are tons of challenges ahead of me, I am sure through building up a good relationship with my students, I can run my project smoothly and use the project to benefit my students' learning.

Jade

This evening, I had dinner with my mother-in-law as it was her birthday. Whenever we have family gathering, I can see my niece who is called Jade. She is still a toddler, around 10-month old. She was born in September. I haven't seen her for a few months. She already becomes very different. First, she becomes much 'taller'. Second, she looks cute and learns to utter 'baby language'. When we had our dinner, she did not disturb us but tried to look at us and laughed. Apart from speaking, she tried to move her body such as her hands and fingers. Everyone of us hugged her and talked to her. Of course, she didn't respond to us in a proper way, but she looked at us as if she understood our meanings. One more thing, she got a very good eyesight! She could pick up her small banana biscuits from a small box and put them into her mouth! Very interesting. Babies grow very fast and they look very different every day.

Work and Play

To most people, work and play are two different things. But to me, work and play can be one thing and sometimes, it's really hard to separate work and play. For instance I like travelling. Having worked in IEd, I have a lot of opportunities to attend overseas conferences. I am really glad to travel to different places while I am working. First, conferencing can enhance my professionalism. Second, I can travel to those places that I have never been to. Why not? It's so much fun. The first time I travelled for work dates back to almost 9 years ago when I took a small group of students to Toronto, Canada. It was summer time. The weather was fantastic and both students and I had a lot of fun over three weeks' time. I remembered I rent a car and visited a lot of famous tourist spots such as CN Tower, Eaton Centre and so forth. Therefore, working holiday is a fuzzy term. If one can enjoy their work, that's great. It's better than those who moan and complain all the time!

Writing with a Purpose

This morning, when I was writing some documents for the department, I thought of a question, "Do we write with a purpose?" I bet you can answer this question fairly quickly - 'Yes', but I would say 'No'. Why? It's simple. Think about our students. Whenever teachers ask them to write, it is for the grades or marks. Apart from grades, it seems to them that there is no other purpose embedded in their writing. Worse still, in Hong Kong secondary classrooms, writing is seldom taught. Teachers will probably pre-teach students some vocabulary items and explain what they are expected to do (this practice is good but I doubt how many teachers will mention their expectations because of the limited time available!). Most students try to finish their compositions in a double lesson (around one hour and twenty minutes) and they need to write about 300 words. If they are lucky, they will be given extra time such as lunch time to finish their work. Having finished the draft, their writing no longer belongs to them as their work will be comprehensively marked and inspected by the principal. I doubt how many teachers will return the marked papers to students in 2 - 3 weeks' time for revisions or corrections. Normally, teachers keep these compositions until the end of term. The above is my own experience as well as the data I interviewed my students when they talked about writing at secondary level and at tertiary level.

Apparently, Hong Kong students write for the grades and write for their teachers, but not for themselves. They lack an identity in which they can call themselves as a Writer. Instead they just write and complete the task for others. Writing with a real purpose seems strange to them. How can we reinforce students to write with a purpose? I work out the following strategies:

1. Using writing portfolios and we shift the ownership from the teacher to students.

2. Encouraging blogging so that students may have a sense of audience as they need to publish their work publicly.

3. Using genre-based approach to learning writing. For every genre, be it narrative or expository, students have to bear in mind that it serves various social functions and purposes.

4. Writing journals is also a good alternative as students can practice to have internal dialogue so that they can be more aware of their own learning.

The aforementioned advice is purely for reference. I am sure there are tons of methods which help students to write with a clear purpose. What do you think?

Assignments

This academic year is drawing to a close. In early July, in every teaching context, teachers will probably receive their new teaching assignments. There is no exception at tertiary level. This afternoon, after the last departmental meeting of this academic year, it was announced that our teaching assignments of next academic year was uploaded on the web. After the meeting, the first thing to do is to look at my assignments. In 2008 - 2009, I need to teach a new course titled 'Language Assessment' in a new BA program. Then, I also take up running tutorials for one module called 'Spoken and Written Discourse' and in this module, I need to work with 3 colleagues who are experienced in teaching discourse in various contexts. The third new assignment is to teach an EMB-tendered course on training teachers in EMI schools. Among all these new assignments, I love to teach language assessment most as it is my specialized area and I feel very comfortable to share the research and experience in the field of assessment with my students.

Air Ticket

In August, I'm planning to attend a conference in Bali, Indonesia. I was accepted to present one of my papers in March already, then I started to do all the logistics such as booking the flight and hotel. However, this year is a bit different from the previous years, it's really difficult to get air tickets to Bali. Having put on the waiting list for almost 2.5 months, I became very nervious and helpless as I didn't want to miss the chance. Luckily, the travel agent called me last week that there were tickets to Bali but they were non-direct flight. At that time, I didn't care whether the flight was direct or non-direct. As long as I can attend the conference, I will be very satisfied. This week, when I talked to some of colleagues about this incident, they said it's always difficult to fly to Bali as the flights are not frequent and there is only one airline in Hong Kong which provides direct flight service. No wonder! On top of it, August is the peak season for holiday makers! This time, I am really lucky. God is always with me. Thanks.

Planning Ahead

Obviously, today is not the first of January; it is the first of July. I would say it is a perfect timing to plan ahead though we may not call our plan as 'New Year Resolution'. Why the first of July? It's because we have entered the second half of a year. If you have planned to do something at the beginning of the year, we should now check or monitor our own progress and see whether we have fulfilled our goals or actually we have lagged much much behind. In addition, we may plan ahead to do something which is not on our agendas. Who knows? Things keep changing all the time.

To me, I have a new project to complete in a year 's time which I haven't planned until May. Also, I need to complete my thesis as soon as possible even though it's a long process which may involve a huge amount of time and energy. How about you? I reckon the essence is that whatever you plan is not important. The most important is the goals you set should be reachable, manageable and practical. Now, it's the right time to look back and plan ahead in order not to waste your time anymore!